The kids divided into groups of about 5-6 kids and rotated through the water tray to take their turns. A parent volunteer at each water tray. The inks were put in a round palette. You don’t need much ink at all. The kids that were waiting enjoyed watching their friends try different color combinations and tricks with moving the ink around the water surface.

I found that the paint brushes made with real natural materials worked better than synthetic bristle brushes.

Some tricks to move the ink is to blow gently on the surface or from the side to move the water. Or create “currents” in the water away from the ink. The currents move the ink in swirls.

A lot of the kids loved the project because they felt like there was no one way to do this type of art and that there was no way to “screw it up”.